The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1887-07-06

report, while crltlclSlng SOME VI Jul
methods, he quotes approvlngly the
language of the Committee of Education
of Massachusetts, as follows: The poor
er we are and the more behind hand In
all that concerns education, the more
ought we to spend money to rise at least
to an honorable rank. In discharging
the school tax, property pays for Its own
protection. 1t is by education alone
that the law can reach the dangerous
elements of the population.
And the language OF the late Horace
Greeley, that mans work Is productive
in proportion as his intellect Is eultlva-
ted. The labor of an ignorant man has
scarcely more of value than that OF an
animal of equal strength. SELF
interest bids the owners of property TO
contribute TO spread instruction among
all ranks of society"
In our impoverished condition the
South cannot educate her children with
out temporary
AID FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
We need it, we want it. But some
one will say the argument in favor OF
| Federal Aid is inconsistent with that
advanced against Capitalization. Osten-
sibly it is-really it is not. For good
citizenship is largely dependent on edu-
| cation. The Government made citizens OF
1000, 900 ignorant slaves, now increased
| to 6,000, 600, nearly all of whom are IN
| the South, and we can't get rid of them.
The Government freed them. The Gov
eminent ought to help us educate them.
In addition to this, the Government
collected illegally, as the Supreme Court
has decided, about SO, 600, 900 in taxes
on cotton raised by the South. That
sum remains in the Treasury. Its equiv
alent applied to public schools woulc
enable US to meet the emergency. The
, policy of the government for hundred
wears has been to foster free schools anC
public education. West Point and An
napolis, the Indian schools to educat'
! the little savages, and the various
schools of technology, attest it. You
own University here is indebted to Fed
eral aid for its endowment and exis
t3nce. Besides, in the vast territor.
acquired by the Louisiana purchase, ant
the cessiou of Northwest territory b.
Virginia and the older States, the l6tl
section, or one section in every sixteen
was reserved for public schools, and be
. came valuable, yielding immense reve
nue. for schools to our neighbors OF tn
: | Northwest.
Hence we can come, not as beggars o
:, suppliants, but simply
ASKING WHAT IS oUI. DUE,
what honestly belongs to US, and fo
| what will enable us to educate and max
a intelligent citizens out of mass Q
n p9upers thrust upon us by the govern
e ment. And hence temporary FEEDERS
e aid, distributdble according TO itiiterdcy an
not according to population, and stripe
r of Federal Supervision, we should deman
P as right and not at a gratuity. Thu
q the Government can to some extent re
IS pair the injury done us in collectin
e revenue under laws afterwards declare
n unconstitutional, and help US to educat
l. and make better citizens of the paupel
IS freed by the Government and affection
le ately dubbed by our Northern friend
"Lhe wards of the Nation" But it ma
P be said the cotton tax so illegally cOlleC
rs ted should be refunded to the person
o from whom taken. That would
a, right But after so long lapse of time
a. it is impossible to ascertain from whol
1t it was collected. 1t has become a sol
he of Escheat to the Government and give
h us of the South a peculiarly equitab
ID claim to Federal aid. Besides, am in
N mense surplus is on hand in the Nation
ID al Treasury, with no debt to which
to apply it. And that surplus is accum,
If lating at the rate of S10,000,000 p,
ar month, which if allowed to remain lon
re will be the local point around which I'll
II cormorants will gather as buzzarC
, about carcass, and it will be vote
y away on jobs not of national importan
lie or of public benefit.
A. Reform and reduce the odious Tari
N Distribute portion of that surplus
t, public education on the score of ill te
y acy. We of the South will get eight
s per cent of it. That is practical polite
at That is what we need. We have n
only the right to demand it, but it
our duty to accept it.